Monday, December 22, 2008

Well, winter has kind of got me down. It's been deathly cold here for two weeks straight. So I've decided to make a list of all the things that I like about winter to cheer me up:

The snow evens out the speed bumps in my building's parking lot so that you hardly notice it when you drive over them now.

Um... Uh... Huh.

It's going to be a long winter.

So it's a good thing that I'm going someplace very warm on Jan. 7th. Ha ha ha. Jealous yet? Oh I pity all you poor things who have to suffer here in the cold while I'm gone. Of course I'm sure it will warm right up as soon as I get on the plane.

In other news, I read the book Feed by M.T. Anderson. It was like, meg sad and I like cried for the last quarter of the book. It's supposed to by all dystopic and shit, you know? But like, really, it's almost too close to reality to be satire. But still it was pretty brag, and I defs recommend it.

That's all for now, so everyone have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Think warm thoughts!

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

I don't know about you, but I've been in a pretty good mood since Friday. Why? Because finally, finally something good is happening in this country's government. Before Friday, I was feeling pretty depressed about the political climate in Canada. Because of our first-past-the-post electoral system and the vote-splitting on the left, I could only see more Conservative minority governments in the future. I thought there was no way out. No way were the NDP and the Liberals ever going to get it together enough to cooperate against the Cons. And even if they did, they still wouldn't have enough seats. Because surely they'd never get the Bloc on board...

But then, a miracle happened. And we have Stephen Harper to thank for it. Wow, never thought I'd be thanking that twit for anything. But because of his complete inability to set aside partisan politics even in the face of the looming economic crisis, the opposition finally got it together.

Now that the conservatives are running scared, they're spouting all sorts of nonsense about the coalition being "a coup" and "undemocratic". Um, excuse me? How about using the economic crisis as an excuse to ram a bunch of partisan legislation down our throats, legislation which would have effectively made it next to impossible for the opposition parties to run a campaign next election. Wow, that's not undemocratic at all, is it? And then we have all the conservatives whining about how the coalition isn't democratic because it wasn't elected. *Sigh* Do we have to go over the numbers again? The Conservatives have a minority government who received less than 40% of the popular vote in the election two months ago. Over 60% of the population of Canada voted for the NDP, the Liberals, the Bloc or the Greens. I even had to sit here and listen to Brad Wall say that no one in Saskatchewan supported the coalition, a statement that echoes Western conservatives everywhere. But I'd just like to point out to Mr. Wall that although Saskatchewan only got one Liberal seat due to our retarded electoral system, 46% of the people of Saskatchewan voted NDP, Liberal or Green. That's not no one. Dumbass.

A coalition government is NOT the end of the world peeps. Don't listen to the Cons running around screaming that the sky is falling. Coalition governments happen in other countries all the time. In countries like New Zealand, where they have a proportional representation system, they usually have minority governments and so almost always end up forming some sort of coalition government. They can work.

And please don't listen to all the fear mongering about the Bloc. Yes, they're a separatist party, but aside from that, they are a left-leaning party that has a lot in common with the NDP. A lot of what the Bloc thinks is good for Quebec is actually good for all of us. I actually kinda like Gilles. His cold blue eyes don't freak me out quite as much as they used to.

At this point, there isn't a lot Harper and the Cons can do except make a lot of noise and hope that the opposition backs down. He will undoubtedly ask the Governor General to prorogue parliament, but I'm really hoping that she will not grant this request. Speaking of undemocratic, a government shouldn't be allowed to avoid defeat simply by dismissing parliament. Write Governor General Michaëlle Jean and tell her how you feel.